Supporters of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been accused of pulling down a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in Tripura state. Monday's incident happened days after the party swept elections in the north-eastern state, dislodging the Communist government after 25 years. The five-year-old statue in Belonia town was removed with the help of an excavator as supporters cheered. There have been clashes between BJP and Communist party workers in the state. The NDTV news channel quoted eyewitnesses as saying the excavator which brought down the statue was hired by BJP workers.

Victims are a group of Sikh individuals from Punjab, India who were actively and peacefully advocating the call given by SFJ to hold referendum for Sikhs' right to self determination and to liberate Indian Occupied Punjab. The demand for referendum is based on the right to self determination guaranteed by the UN Charter and International Convent on Civil and Political Rights on the basis that Sikhs are indigenous people of Punjab, with a separate and distinct religious, cultural and linguistic identity. Sikh Referendum Campaigners were actively involved in "Referendum 2020" campaign by coordinating, participating and holding gatherings in the villages...

NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has pledged to kick off one project every week in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as part of the central government's ambitious development agenda for the state. This will add up to new road projects worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore in the state, where elections are scheduled to be held early next year. Gadkari and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will formally announce the road plans on Friday in Lucknow. "I will lay foundation stones for highway projects across UP every week from now," Gadkari told ET. "My ministry will complete highway construction projects...

Pakistan's leading Islamist daily Roznama Ummat has alleged that extremist Hindu groups have taken over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and argued that that extremist Hindu organizations are forging close alliances with Zionist groups with the aim of establishing a new world order. .....

After five weeks, and more than 800 million ballots cast, the largest election in the history of mankind ended with a landslide win—announced on Sunday—for India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. The bjp is now set to form a new government under Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi. Modi’s mammoth victory means he has something no ruler of India has had for over 30 years: an absolute majority in the lower house of Parliament. This gives him powers his predecessors could only have dreamed of—and the indications are that he will use it. “Good days are coming,” Modi said in a victory speech....

WASHINGTON — The United States' top naval officer said the Navy’s growing presence in the Asia-Pacific region is beginning to show results and shape events, but acknowledges it will be ‘a long-term effort.’ Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, said he hopes the U.S. Navy will be able to expand cooperation with India once its new government takes its place. Speaking Monday at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Greenert said the growing military-to-military dialogue with China is beginning to show results, especially in the South China Sea, where maritime tensions between China and its...

The majority party and its leader Narenda Modi have ridden the wave of religious fanaticism. Minorities are appealing to the legacy of democracy and pluralism India is officially in the hands of the Hindu right wing. The Catholic Church and other religious minorities are concerned but they are grinning and bearing it, grasping onto the old and deep-rooted legacy of democratic values and pluralism that characterizes the Indian nation. Their concerns stem from the contiguity of India’s leaders with groups of Hindu fanatics. This is the landscape that has been emerging in the Indian sub-continent since the official general election...

The results of India's election, which are rapidly appearing today, seem to show a huge win for the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A victory had been expected, but this looks like a massive landslide. The next prime minister is almost certain to be Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, a state in western India. He is known for his economic agenda, which is seen to be relatively business-friendly (expect stocks to react very positively to the news), and his controversial brand of Hinduism. Modi's ideology is certainly going to be important over the next several years, but his...

Narendra Modi is the only person ever denied a U.S. visa based on a little-known law on religious freedom.Well-intentioned U.S. policies sometimes work out in absurd ways, but this is hard to top: In a few weeks, India, the world's largest democracy, will probably elect as its next prime minister a politician who for nearly a decade has been prohibited from setting foot on U.S. soil. The banned Indian official is Narendra Modi, a longtime Hindu nationalist who is the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. Nine years ago, U.S. officials denied Mr. Modi a...

NEW DELHI (AP) — Opposition leader Narendra Modi won India's election by a landslide Friday, according to preliminary results that showed his party easily driving out the long-dominant Congress party in the most commanding election victory India has seen in more than a quarter century.

BJP has reached the half-way mark and it is for the first time since 1984 that a single party seems set to get a simple majority. According to recent trends, NDA is leading in 321 seats while the UPA is leading in only 67 seats. Counting of votes, the grand finale in the nine-phased Lok Sabha elections, began today across the country. Election Commission said the counting exercise to be held at 989 counting centres is likely to be completed by 4 PM. By noon, a final picture should emerge on who would be the major players in the 16th...

A deal with Moscow makes clear that India has no plans to abandon Afghanistan post 2014.In a recent deal with Moscow, India has agreed to pay for military equipment sourced from Russia to Afghanistan. The equipment will include artillery, helicopters, tanks, and armored vehicles. India will also pay to repair old Soviet hardware left behind after the Russian withdrawal in 1989. The scale and exact composition of the deal have yet to be announced, but it is known that the first order has already been placed. India had so far hesitated to provide lethal weapons to Afghanistan for fear of...

A 23-year-old courageous soldier of the Gurkha regiment killed a Pakistani trained infiltrator during a hand-to-hand combat along the Line of Control in Poonch in the wee hours of Saturday. Defence PRO in Jammu said, "A 23-year-old soldier from the elite Gurkha Regiment of the Indian Army, Rifleman Prem Bahadur Roka Magar scripted an astonishing saga of raw courage and fearlessness, resulting in the elimination of two hardcore Pakistan trained terrorists in the Poonch sector". "The brave soldier after reaching within hand shaking distance tried to grab the AK 47 rifle of the Pak trained infiltrator and in the ensuing...

Beijing, May 7 (IANS) If BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi comes to power, it could bring India and China closer, says an influential state- run Chinese daily. The Global Times in a write up says that Modi was once a "practical businessman". After he became chief minister of Gujarat he established good relations with China. "A large number of Chinese enterprises invested in Gujarat, contributing to the economic development of the state. Therefore, ties between China and India may become closer under Modi's leadership," says the daily. The article, titled 'Modi victory could cause disquiet in West', says that...

Indian authorities obtained information indicating that Pakistani intelligence services were in the planning stages of organizing a terrorist attack against the Israeli mission in Bengaluru as well as the American consulate in Chennai, according to a report in Sunday editions of the Times of India. According to the report, Indian security agencies learned of the plot after interrogating a Sri Lankan national who was allegedly hired by a Pakistani official to conduct reconnaissance of the two diplomatic missions. A Pakistani official based in Sri Lanka denied the Times of India report, attributing the allegations of an alleged terrorist plot as...

Narendra Modi has suggested he would authorise India’s intelligence services to stage cross-border strikes against terrorists. The stakes are seismic — and must be debated with dispassion, before a choice is made in rageEarly one summer morning in 2008, an ageing Toyota car slowed down to turn at the corner next to the Indian Embassy complex in Kabul, transforming itself as it did so into a wall of searing, white light. Fifty-eight people were killed and 141 injured, their bodies torn apart by shock waves, fires, and shards of metal and glass. Inside hours, western intelligence services listened in to...

The Indian Navy had to politely refuse an unusual request from the Chinese navy chief, Wu Shengli, when he came aboard one of India’s frontline stealth warships, INS Shivalik this week and wanted to be shown the Combat Information Centre (CII) or the all-important tactical room of the frigate. It was learnt that Indian officers declined Wu’s request–considered a major break from established protocol followed by navies around the world -- saying since the ship was in the harbour, the room was locked and was not open to outsiders. But Wu insisted on seeing the room and his aides attempted...

Narendra Modi, the odds on favourite for prime minister who is running under the banner of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has suffered a major blow. His right hand man, Amit Shah (pictured), has been barred from future campaign rallies after making a number of anti-Muslim statements. A close Modi aide for years, Shah was in charge of his campaign in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. In announcing its decision on Sunday, the Election Commission said that Shah's statements promoted "hatred and ill will" between religions. It also urged police to press criminal charges.The politician, among other...

India, the world’s largest democracy, is in the midst of a marathon five-week election that will result in the selection of its next prime minister. Although Nate Silver has yet to make it official, most pundits and prognosticators predict that Narendra Modi will be India’s next leader. Modi bears striking similarities to a celebrated American president: one Ronald Wilson Reagan. Both men rose from humble origins. Modi, in particular, worked from childhood hawking tea in railway stations. Both were popular and successful state governors: Modi is the chief minister (equivalent to a governor) of Gujarat, an Indian state whose gift...

India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win India's parliamentary elections, the first round of which began on Monday. India is the largest democracy in the world, and so national elections are helpd in separate regions over a five-week period. Self-described Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) Narendra Modi is the head of BJP, and he's promising a substantially more aggressive foreign policy for India, including a promise to get tougher in territorial disputes with China. He's the "hope and change" candidate for this election, and he's expected to become the next prime minister. Modi is also promising to review India's...